Category: Articles

At the end of March, the Annual Assembly of the Metropolitan New York Synod, one of the most populous geographical divisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), resolved to divest from fossil fuels within five years. The Synod Assembly also voted to ask the national body of the church to do the same at the Church-wide Assembly in 2016. We are grateful to leaders from NYIPL who participated in this very significant step forward!

The divestment resolutions were the culmination of work that began shortly after the People’s Climate March in New York City last September that elevated the climate crisis as a moral issue.  Gerard A. Falco, Chair of New York Interfaith Power & Light and Chair of the Synod’s Environmental Stewardship Committee explained, “Lutherans from our Synod and across the country were deeply involved in organizing the People’s Climate March and making it the success it was. The march galvanized public opinion, and our committee decided to build on that momentum to get these divestment resolutions passed.”

The Metro New York Synod now joins the New England and Oregon Synods, as well as many other congregations and religious bodies in the US and abroad, in divesting from coal, oil, and natural gas companies because of their damaging effects on the climate. This religious divestment movement parallels the strong student-led campaign to divest colleges and universities, and the growing campaign to divest state and municipal pension funds.

Robert Rimbo, Bishop of the Metro NY Synod, said “With this action, our Synod joins the chorus of those who acknowledge that ‘if it’s wrong to wreck the climate, it’s wrong to profit from that wreckage.’ This is a fiscally responsible step, but it’s also the right thing to do. As Christians, we are called to care for all Creation. As Luther himself wrote, ‘God is essentially present in all places, even the tiniest tree leaf,’ so ‘to do harm to Creation is also to assault God. And when humans assault God, there is only one outcome, and it is not a good one for humans.’ With these resolutions, we’ve taken a further step in living out our Lutheran vocation.”

The Metropolitan NY Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church covers the five boroughs of New York City and Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties. The Synod has approximately 64,000 baptized members in 190 congregations served by about 300 pastors and 100 lay leaders. For more information, visit http://www.mnys.org/. For the texts of the resolutions, go to http://tinyurl.com/MNYS-ELCA-resolutions.

Yesterday we celebrated a new reason to hope! Pope Francis released “Laudato Si (Be Praised): On the Care of Our Common Home,” an encyclical on stewardship of the environment and human ecology. The Pope’s pastoral letter, the boldest environmental signal to date from the Roman Catholic Church, calls on all people of conscience to take up climate change as a moral imperative.

This is a tremendous moment for those of us who recognize that global warming is the moral issue of our time.  Reverend Sally Bingham, President and founder of Interfaith Power and Light, spoke about the encyclical and what it means for the climate movement on the Diane Rehm show on NPR. Listen here.

Learn more about the encyclical, and on Interfaith Power & Light’s response.

4/23 and 4/30, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m. ET

In the world, there 950 million Hindus and 350 million Buddhists.
Greenfaith is offering two great webinars on their environmental teachings.

Register for the webinars today.

On Thursday, April 23rd from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET, Dr. Pankaj Jain will speak about Hindu teachings on the environment. Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of North Texas, Pankaj is the author of award-winning “Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities” and contributes to the Huffington Post, Washington Post’s forum On Faith, Patheos.com, and Times of India’s Speaking Tree.

On Thursday, April 30th from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET, Dr. David Loy will speak about Buddhist teachings related to the environment. David is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Turning Wheel, Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma.

Register for the webinars today. Register even if you can’t make it live, and they’ll send you the recordings.

These webinars are part of their series on eco-teachings from the world’s great religions. Stay tuned for news on upcoming webinars on Muslim eco-teachings.

Looking for a great film for Earth Day? Take a look at this list recommended by the Interfaith Power & Light national office.

On March 31st, President Obama re-affirmed his climate targets that he had announced in China in 2014 by submitting them to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The goal is to reduce the United States’ emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, and to make best efforts to reduce by 28%.

Win $1000!

Your congregation is eligible to enter IPL’s Cool Congregations Challenge if it has finished an energy efficiency, renewable energy, or grounds and water conservation project this year, or if it has engaged your community in response to global warming. There is also a planning category for those who have recently finished their energy audit and developed plans for improvements.

Good luck everyone! Deadline for entries: Dec. 15, 2014 — here’s the guide.